Thanks for your interest in Johnny’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Machine!  Ok, so you’ve seen a million “one-man bands” so why should this one be any different? Well, first, All the music backing tracks are created by me. And we’re not talking about making a beat and strumming along. I take the song apart by ear, one instrument at a time, and re-create the tunes with my own spin on them- maybe a fatter kick drum, a snare with a different “snap”, a keyboard instead of a rhythm guitar, etc. Then I play and sing live, maybe a different guitar solo, a different tone, you get the idea. Each song is individually mixed, synced with lights, and called up on-the-fly. This process is called “Sequencing”, a way of using a computer or other hardware to get digital keyboards, drum modules, samplers and synthesizers to play sounds and notes, when and how you want them to. The first pieces of hardware that made it possible to do this were called “Sequencers”, hence the term “Sequencing”. Sometimes the music itself was referred to as a “Sequence.”

Back in the early 80s, I joined 5, 6 and 4-piece bands. One of the bands had a drummer that happened to play trumpet. He also owned a Yamaha sequencer. For one of the tunes, he wanted to play the trumpet instead of the drums, so he sequenced his drum part. He also sequenced the bass. This was the first time I experienced the use of sequences and MIDI on stage. MIDI (Musical instrument digital interface) is the digital programing language and interface used by digital keyboards, drum modules, samplers and synthesizers to communicate. I remember thinking I could learn how to do this and sequence the whole band!

Turns out, much of the 80s pop music you heard was using MIDI sequencing in some form. Nowadays, most sequencing is done with software on a computer. Over the years, MIDI grew to be more in-depth, not only playing notes, but also controlling effects, stage lights, guitar pedals, etc. As computers became more powerful, not only did they sequence, but they took over the role of keyboards, drum modules, samplers and synthesizers. You can now get these in digital form – as software running on a computer. In the 90s I lugged around racks of gear full of Synths, drum modules, guitar processors, computers and monitors. No flat screens in those days, they were big heavy monitors made of glass. Now ALL of this can be reduced to a laptop- including the live guitar amp! Even my amp is software!

So for “Johnny’s Rock’n’Roll Machine” I sequenced every song myself, play guitar and sing live. The song list and sound system is designed and proven to get you up on the dance floor. It was so much fun I had to bring it back, especially now that I don’t need to lug around all that gear!